William devices



v UNirnn STATES ArnNr rtree.

WILLIAM DEYINES, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.-

DRUG AND SPICE SIFTER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,693, dated February20, 1866.

To all whom t "may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM DnvrNns, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kingsand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inSifters for Drugs, Spices, 86o.;

'and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a verticalcross-section of my improvedsifter through the line x fr, Fig. 2. Fig. 2is a verticallongitudinalsection th rough the line y y, Fig. 1.

The object of my invention is to furnish a sifter by means of whichpowdered drugs, spices, Ste., may be sifted readily and rapidly, andwithout waste or dust; and it consists in combining a shaft providedwith elastic wings or flanges with the sieve, the box, and the hopper,and also in combining with the hop per an apparatus for crushing anylumps that may be in the material sifted before it can reach the sieve,as hereinafter more fully described.

A B O D is the box, in which is placed and to which is attached thesieve E. The ends A B and sides O D of said box may be vertical, but Iprefer to make the sides C D inclinedthat is, to make the box wider atthe base than at the top, as this construction gives a more free passagefor the descent of the sifted powder from the sieve E to thereceptaclebeneath.

Upon the sides O D are attached two pieces, F Gr, extending the entirelength of the sifter, and to these is attached in any suitable mannerthe side edges of the sieve E, so as to bring the sieve E far enoughaway from the sides O D of the box to allow the entire surface of thesieve E to be made available for sifting purposes.

The ends AB terminate at the same height as the upper surfaces of thepieces F Gr, but the sides O D extend upward and have their inner edgesbeveled, as represented in Fig. 1, so as to t into a cavity in thehopper, hereinafter described.

H I are the ends, J K the sides, and L M the lid or cover, of thehopper. The ends H and I are vertical, but the sides J and K areinclined in the manner of an ordinary hopper. rIhe part M, which formsthe lid of the cover,

is hinged to the ends H and I and side K in the usual manner.

The front and end edges ofthe lid M are faced with strips N, of rubberor other packing, so as to form a close joint and prevent any escape ofthe finer particles of the material being sifted.

The lower edges of the sides J K and ends H I of the hopper rest uponthe top ofthe ends A B of the box and the uppper surfaces of the piecesF G. l

The lower part ofthe outside surfaces of the sides J K are beveled orchanneled, as repre sented, so as to form a channel or groove into whichthe projecting beveled edges of the sides C D ofthe box may t.

Upon the sides and ends of the hopper, near theirlower edges, areattached pieces O P Q R, projecting downward below the edges of saidhopper, so as to cover and protect the joint where the hopper and boxcome together and prevent all escape of d ust from the sifter.

The upper part of the end A of lthe box is cut out in a circular form,so that the circular upper edge of said end A shall conform to the formofthe sieve E, and the end edge of the sieve is att-ached to saidcircular edge in the usual way.

S is a door or cap, made to fit into the opening formed by cutting awaythe upper part of the end A of the box, and its circular edge is facedwith strips T, of rubber or other packing, so as to secure a close jointbetween the cap S and the end A of the box. The outside surface of thecap S is covered with a metallic plate, U, projecting beyond thecircular edge of the end A of the box, so as to overlap said circularedge, making the joint more secure, and at the same time furnishing ashoulder to prevent the cap S from bein gpushed in too far. This metalplate II-may be replaced by a circular strip ofy metal or wood attachedto the cap S and covering the said joint with substantially the sameeffect. The cap S is held in its place at its lower end by the button V,or its equivalent, and at the top of the overlapping piece Q, as shown.

W and X are squarer blocks or boxes attached to the shaft Y. Theseblocks are connected together end to end in such a way that the cornersof the one shallbe opposite the center of the side of the other, and aresecured together by doweling` or in some other suitable way. They arealso channeled diagonally across their sides, as represented in thedrawings, but the channels are inclined in a different direction in thetwo blocks, so that the wings Z, placed in said channels, shall tend tocarry the material sifted toward the center of the sieve, collecting thewaste or unsifted part may be hollowed ont, as represented, to allowmore space for the material between the strips or wings Z. These stripsshould extend out so far from the blocks that they may overlap the sievean eighth of an inch or more, according to the size ofthe sifter, asshown in Fig.1. Une end of the shaft Y works in bearings in .the end Bof the box, and theother end in bearings in the cap S.

To the projecting end of the shaft Y is attached a crank, B; but whenthe machine is made large and driven by power the crank B y should bereplaced by a pulley.

The shaft Y and its attachments may be removed from the sifter byremoving the hopper and turning the burton V, when the shaft and blocksmay be withdrawn.

The cap S may be removed by iirst remov- -ing the crank B.

C is a block extending the length of the hopper and revolving` inbearings in the ends H and I of the hopper. The biock C is notched, asshown in the drawings, so as toform a cogroller.

To the ends H and I, near their upper edges, is pivoted a plate, D,extending down a little lower than the roller C. Upon the upper surfaceof the plate D are attached wedge-shaped blocks or cogs E', in suchpositions that they may work into the notches formed in the roller C.The blocks E are made wedge-shapedin two directions-thatis, in adirection parallel with the plane of the plate D' and in a directionperpendicular to said plane.

The plate D is held away from the side K of the hopper and up againstthe roller C by the spring F.

TheA notched roller G is not round but square, with the corners roundedo", so that as it is revolved an upward and downward motion is given tothe plate D by the projections or cogs of the roller pressing againsttheupper surface of said plate. Motion is communicated to the roller C bythe gear wheel Gr', attached to the projecting end of the shaft thatcarries the said roller, which gear-wheel meshes into another one, H,attached to the shaft Y. By this arrangement any lumps that may be inthe material to be sifted are crushed before reaching the sieve, and theoperation of sifting` made much more rapid and complete.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- WM. DEVINES.

Witnesses:V

M. M. LIVINGSTON, J AMES T. GRAHAM.

